Living a Troublesome Life
by AniMeViEtGrl
Summary: Ino and Chouji have a little talk about the Nara's 'odd' behavior one day... ShikaIno fluff. oneshot for Ara san


**HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARASHIMITARASHI-SAN!**

**I actually uploaded this on the 30th but it says the 29th? **

**Thanks for getting me HOOKED to ShikaIno! Haha**

**Hmmm…I should be working on my school project right now…oh wellz!**

**Story takes place after the timeslip and BEFORE the Team 10 arc.**

**LIVING A TROUBLESOME LIFE**

"Ne…Chouji?" A feminine voice rang out over the bustling noise of the crowded street.

The voice's owner barely dodged a woman pushing her way through the crowd, as she tried to get a hold of the special bargains displayed at the stall a few feet behind the blonde.

The chubby teen walking beside her appeared oblivious to her sudden call and continued downing the addicting potato chips, his eyes set straight ahead.

"Chouji…" The voice repeated itself again, this time a little louder than before as she kept her eyes forward. That didn't seem to make much of a difference because the boy had repeated his same action earlier.

"Chouji…!" The girl repeated, a hint of impatience woven into her voice. She took the time to finally glance at the boy and STILL he would continue to inhale the bag of chips.

Chouji peered inside the bag noticing there was only crumbs left and raised the bag over his head with the opening tilting towards his mouth, tapping the bag lightly causing the remaining crumbs to fall one by one into his mouth.

"CHOUJI!" She yelled at him finally grabbing his attention, her last bit of patience gone faster than the boy had finished his chips. Chouji gave her a look and held up his finger to her asking for her to give him a moment. He swallowed the last of his chips and tossed the empty bag into a trash bin he spotted as they continued to walk down the street.

"Sorry Ino, so what's up? It's unusual for you to be treating me out to lunch" The boy stated matter-of-factly. A frown graced the blonde's features. 'Talk about getting straight to the point…Chouji knows me too well…' She thought to herself amused.

"Well, let's talk inside shall we?" The young Yamanaka lifted the flap at the entrance of Yakiniku Q and ushered Chouji inside hastily.

- - - -

A few minutes later meat began to sizzle on the grill and the Akimichi boy's mouth watered at the mere sight of it. Ino shook her head and gave out a small chuckle. "You never change Chouji!" She smiled and poured tea for her friend and herself.

Chouji laughed in response. "haha I'll let that one pass as a compliment…it HAS been awhile since we got the chance to talk like this huh?" He picked up his chopsticks and poked at a piece of meat, making sure it was fully cooked before he claimed it his own.

"Too bad Shikamaru couldn't make it though" He added, catching the girl off guard. Ino scratched the back of her head, nervous.

"Uhh right…Shikamaru…yeah, too bad…" Ino fidgeted in her seat, her sky blue eyes moving downwards to her lap. Ino's brows furrowed between confusion and anger when she realized why she was acting like this at the mention of the Nara's name. Her confidence being fully restored, she looked back at the Akimichi boy and slammed both her hands on the table causing everyone's attention on hers, including Choujis'. Ino apologized to the other customers and calmed herself down.

"Well you see…the truth is I didn't invite Shikamaru because I wanted to talk to you about him" Ino explained as she split her wooden chopsticks in half and reached for a piece of meat on the grill (not before she said 'itadakimasu' of course) Chouji lifted a brow skyward and set his bowl down, lifting up his tea cup to take a light sip from it.

"Shikamaru…? What about him?" He looked at her perplexingly and picked up his chopsticks once again. Ino looked at him as if he had grown an extra head.

"What do you mean 'What about him'?!" Ino scoffed.

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed his strange behavior lately!" Her frown intensified as she accusingly pointed her chopsticks at Chouji.

Chouji looked thoughtful for a moment and then shook his head.

"Sorry Ino, but I seriously have no idea what you're talking about…" He took another piece of meat.

"And even if I DID notice…I don't see why it would bother YOU so much…" Chouji chewed on the meat slowly and swallowed it, taking another piece. The blonde girl scrunched up her nose and then let out a frustrated sigh.

"I don't know why either…but isn't it just…well...ODD?" She chewed on her piece of meat to rid her of the stress.

Chouji blinked.

"Odd..? I thought you wanted Shikamaru to 'get his act together' and stop being lazy" Chouji in turn pointed his chopsticks at her as to make his point clearer.

"So you admit you did notice" Ino shot back with an accusing glare. Chouji mentally scolded himself for making such an easy mistake.

"Ok...so yeah I 'sorta' noticed…but following my last statement…" Chouji pressed on.

"Oh! right…Well, yeah of course I want him to do that, but never in a **MILLION** years would I believe this day would come! I mean…he wasn't like this yesterday! He couldn't have just finally woken up on the right side of the bed this morning and thought to himself 'Today I feel like being the total opposite of myself!'." Ino shot back, her elbow propped on the table and chin resting in her palm.

"It doesn't make any sense! It's crazy!" Ino continued waving her other hand in the air.

"Maybe he got himself a girlfriend" Chouji snickered meaning for it to be a joke. Ino, on the other hand, didn't treat it as such.

"A girlfriend! Ah! Why didn't I think of that! You may be on to something Chouji!" She sat up abruptly punching her hand, a look of consideration adorning her face. Chouji almost choked on his food and patted his chest to keep him from doing so.

"I was JOKING Ino" Chouji raised his hands hoping to stop the absurd ideas the kunoichi was thinking. Ino stopped and looked at Chouji. "Joking?" She quizzically responded. Chouji nodded.

"As if Shikamaru would get himself a girl…as he would put it, it would be too _**troublesome**_" He waved his hand at her dismissing her earlier thought. Ino's eyes furrowed again. She had to admit Chouji had a point, but what other explanation could there be? Besides, Ino had a fair idea of who Shikamaru would choose as his lady friend.

'Well Chouji DOES know him best…' Ino thought to herself, tapping a finger to her lip as she thought back to the chunin exams. She had bet that Shikamaru would win the battle against the Sand Kunoichi. Later she would see that Chouji's prediction was on the mark, the shadow user had forfeited.

"Besides...I already know who he likes..." Chouji mumbled under his breath.

"Did you say something Chouji?" Ino quirked her brow at him. Chouji in turn shook his head.

"It's nothing...anyways...TRUST ME Ino...Shikamaru doesn't have a girlfriend" The boy repeated himself.

"Okay then Mr. Know-it-all, then YOU tell me what's wrong with him!" Ino shrugged to herself.

"There's nothing 'wrong' with him at all Ino...maybe you're just exaggerating things a bit" Chouji almost rolled his eyes but he knew about the consequences he would face at the hands of the Yamanaka girl. Plus, all he wanted to do right now was enjoy his free meal.

"EXAGGERATING?!" Ino raised her voice again. She glared at the other customers as if advising them to back off, they in turn averted their attentions to anyone but the crazed blonde. "I'm not exaggerating!" she finished.

"Ok, ok! So if you claim that, tell me your reasons..." Chouji tried to calm her down as he placed both hands on her shoulders, seating her back down.

Ino let out a small growl but did as told anyways. She crossed her right leg over her left and tossed her blonde ponytail behind her shoulder beginning to list out her witnessed accounts.

"Okay…how about this morning when we went to pick him up at his house to go training with Asuma-sensei and instead of seeing him lazing around in his room AS USUAL he was CLEANING the house?!" Ino stated it as if it was the most bizarre thing ever.

"Okay…so he's cleaning…that's nothing abnormal…" Chouji defended.

"That's nothing abnormal for anyone else BESIDES Shikamaru!" She pointed her finger at him as if correcting him. Chouji shook his head and laughed. "Ok, Ok, whatever…next!" He urged Ino on.

"Okay, how about when after he cleaned he MADE us BREAKFAST? And need I mention that it actually tasted delicious?" Ino stated her second reason. "Tell me that's NOT normal!" Ino bit a piece of her meat and proceeded to chew on it. "Even his mother was amazed!" Ino added.

Chouji said nothing but gestured her to go on.

"And then when Asuma-sensei asked one of us to deliver a package for him because he had his hands full with other business, SHIKAMARU was the one who volunteered! Did you SEE sensei's face?" She nodded her head remembering the scene clearly.

"Asuma was ONLY surprised until he realized that the package's destination was right across from Shikamaru's house" Chouji shot back at her.

Ino blinked.

"Hmmm...FINE! I _**guess**_ that's true…" Ino waved off the memory.

"Ah!" The blonde suddenly remembered. "When he was walking, he didn't even SLOUCH! Not even once!" Ino mentally gave herself a high-five for that one.

"How did YOU know that? Were you watching him the whole time?" Chouji nearly smirked. Ino's face flamed and she mumbled something about how she found her teammate's behavior odd so all she was doing was keeping an eye on him.

"Uh huh…proceed..." Chouji plopped another piece of meat into his mouth and stared at his friend.

"Ah! And he was FLIRTING with other girls too!" Ino frowned at the memory.

Chouji's chopsticks stopped above the grill and he looked up at Ino.

"Flirting?" Chouji exclaimed, disbelieving what his ears had heard.

"Yes! YOU weren't there because you had to go home to help your father!" Ino rolled her bright blue eyes. Chouji had to admit he DID remember that happening just a few hours ago.

"Okay, so yeah, I do remember me going home before you two, but come on…SHIKAMARU? FLIRTING?" Chouji tried to find reason in that announcement alone. Chouji placed more meat onto the grill emanating a sizzling noise to momentarily overpower the other customers chatting.

"I'm serious Chouji! I wouldn't lie about these things!" Ino pouted and crossed her arms. Chouji laughed again.

"Alright, alright! Are you sure it was flirting?" Chouji questioned. He still couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I'm absolutely positive! I KNOW flirting when I see it! I MASTERED flirting!" Ino hmphed, her arms still crossed.

"I mean…! He _**actually**_ flirted! In front of ME! We were walking along the street and out of nowhere a bunch of girls came up to him asking if he could help them with 'training' and he treated it like it was nothing! He even smiled at them and it didn't look forced either! Not ONCE did he say 'mendokuse' to them!" Ino fumed as she recalled herself having to drag Shikamaru away from the horde of girls.

"I didn't even know he HAD fangirls!" Ino added.

Chouji snickered. "Again I repeat...why should it bother you?"

Ino paused.

"I-It doesn't bother me idiot! I'm just…I was just…" Ino struggled to find the right words. Chouji gave her an impassive look.

"Shut up! That's not the point here!" She ended the subject there.

"Ughh! why is this so frustrating?!" She scratched her head to emphasize her statement as her forehead pressed against the cool table top.

"So in other words…" Chouji started. "You're wondering why he's being so…responsible?" he concluded.

Ino paused again...

"Well…I guess you can put it that way…" Ino frowned slightly.

"Well he started becoming responsible ever since he became chunin, so that's no surprise"

Ino found no smart comeback to Chouji's words. Probably because she found they were true.

"Shikamaru's not the same as he was when he was 11 Ino…He's 15 now, and it's a good thing he's starting to take his life more seriously" Chouji continued. Ino squirmed in her seat as quiet as ever. The kunoichi reflected on her thoughts to all those times from when Shikamaru had her back as she performed her Shintenshin no Jutsu, to during the chunin exams. She thought about all sorts of moments she could remember of the three of them together and finally came to a conclusion.

A smile slowly graced her beautiful features. She missed the good old days. She looked down to her lap. "You guys…really **have** grown up a bit huh?" She giggled, shaking her head. Chouji smiled and offered her some food.

"Yeah...you did too…" Ino smiled in response and accepted his offer.

All was quiet again as the two ate in a comfortable silence until something hit Ino in the back of the head.

Her pleasant smile turned grim as she suddenly remembered.

"But that STILL doesn't explain his flirting!" She began to frown again. Chouji sighed and slapped his forehead.

"Ino…he was NOT flirting!" Chouji argued.

"HE WAS SO TOO!! Look...the next time I see Shikamaru I'll ask him!" Ino sighed again. She could tell Chouji knew why his best friend was acting this way and he wasn't planning to tell her anytime soon. She knew this _**because**_, for one, the boy had evaded the question that started the whole conversation to begin with and he had managed to make her forget the question herself. She sighed thrice; there was no point in pressing the question further, she'd have to talk to Shikamaru face to face.

'If only we were still in our genin days…I could have beaten the crap out of Chouji until he told me…' Ino thought.

"Ask me what?" A voice broke Ino's thoughts. The tone in the voice seemed foreign to her, but when she looked up, the face wasn't.

"S-Shika!" The blonde girl yelped out his nickname out of surprise. Her face turned shades of red in embarrassment as she realized he had heard her talking about him.

The chunin raised his face towards Ino repeating his early question before he placed a hand on her forehead. "Hmm you don't seem to be sick" He said having noticed her red face, he pulled away before Ino could react. If it weren't for Ino being frozen in shock, she would have pointed out to Chouji that THAT was indeed flirting...in an unintentional way…or was it?

Shikamaru walked to the other side of the table taking a seat beside Chouji, the two started to converse, forgetting Ino was there. Chouji tried to suppress his laughter as he glanced at Ino from the corner of his eyes.

Ino found her voice a minute later and gazed at the Nara incredulously. "What are YOU doing here anyways?" She asked, plopping a piece of meat into her mouth, chewing slowly on it. Both boys stopped their conversation and stared at Ino. "It seems you found your way back to reality..." Shikamaru chuckled leaning onto the table to stare at Ino. Ino's face burned a brilliant hue of red from humiliation and anger, but it suddenly died down as she told herself she was in a public area.

"Oh Shut up Nara! I swear! You're such an eyesore!" Ino ridiculed, lifting her nose up towards the ceiling with her arms crossed. This wasn't how she anticipated her next meeting with Shikamaru but she didn't want her pride to falter because of it either. Shikamaru lifted a brow and leaned his cheek onto his closed fist, his elbow resting on the table.

"Me? An eyesore?" Shikamaru pointed to himself, his eyes seemed to be asking Chouji who was still trying hard not to burst out laughing. Ino was about to respond when she realized that this was not the time to argue with him.

"No! WAIT!" Ino waved her hands in front of Shikamaru, shaking her head, her ponytail swinging from side to side. She sighed again and touched her hand to her forehead, massaging her temples

"This wasn't supposed to happen…" Ino grumbled to herself. She looked at Shikamaru who was looking at her, his expression dawning between worry and pure confusion for the girl.

Ino thought some more. She didn't want to just straight out ask him, otherwise she'd look as if she were jealous. She looked at the two boys again, both waiting for her to go on with her statement earlier. Her gaze landed on Chouji, amusement dancing in his eyes. 'Damnit Chouji…he seems to think this is FUNNY'. Ino gritted her teeth.

"Umm If you're not going to say anything Ino, I'm leaving…I have to get ready for a mission tomorrow…" Shikamaru spoke up, breaking Ino's glare off Chouji.

"Keep your pants on will ya?" She crossed her arms again, letting her stubbornness get the better of her. She stared at Shikamaru long and hard before opening her mouth again. But to her dismay, no words would come out. After a minute nearly passed, she looked down in defeat and stood up from the table letting out yet another sigh. She found herself sighing a lot lately.

"Oh forget it…I'm supposed to go help out at the shop anyways" She shook her head and slapped a few bills on the table.

"Ino wait!" Chouji stopped Ino before she made her exit.

"Shikamaru…Ino wanted to know why you were flirting with other girls earlier" Chouji stated bluntly. Ino looked at him in horror.

"CHOUJI!" Was all she managed to choke out.

Shikamaru looked surprised for a moment and his dark eyes met Ino's light ones. Shikamaru also noticed that Ino's face had turned as red as Haruno Sakura's dress. He had to admit he had never seen this side of the 'tough' Yamanaka Ino before and he sort of thought it was 'cute'. Just a bit though. Shikamaru glanced at Chouji for his reply.

"What? I thought you said you wanted to ask him the next time you saw him" Chouji chewed on his food faster.

Shikamaru glanced at her again. Ino stared back at him, trying to keep her face from flaming up.

"What are YOU looking at?" Ino growled, out of anger, she sat back down at her seat glaring daggers at the two.

"Nothing…" Shikamaru shrugged and continued to stare at her. Chouji opted to watch the live entertainment provided with his free meal.

"So…" Shikamaru opened his mouth slowly."...you were jealous... is that it?" Shikamaru finished, his tone teasing her. He gave her an all-knowing smirk. Ino glared at him despite her flaming face and stomped her foot on the ground out of sheer fury. Shikamaru began to tap his finger on the table, his chin now resting in his palm. He continued to stare at her again.

"Y-You WISH…!" Ino turned her head away from him. Shikamaru casually stood up and walked over to her side of the table. He tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"So you didn't mind it when I got up close to other girls like this…?" He began to scoot closer to Ino, bursting her 'personal space' bubble in a flash. Chouji began to eat faster to keep from laughing. Oh how he wished he had something to record this right now!

"What do you think you're doing…?" Ino said as she scooted back along the booth seat. To her dismay she had reached the end of the seat.

"Nothing…" Shikamaru mumbled huskily, as he inched closer to her. Ino shivered as Shikamaru gently caressed her cheek…his face being brought in closer and closer to hers…Ino closed her eyes as their lips were merely centimeters away. She gulped inwardly and hoped that her breath didn't smell bad. Finally...it seemed like an eternity until...

"...Mendoukuse…" Shikamaru grumbled, his lips barely millimeters away. Ino felt Shikamaru's weight being removed from on top of hers, the creaking of the seat sounding. Ino opened her eyes hesitantly as she spotted the shadow user positioning himself in Ino's old seat across from Chouji.

"Okay Chouji…I did it…now you got no right to preach to ME about how I don't know what it's like to do troublesome things anymore…" Shikamaru said while helping himself to some food.

Ino did a double take…

"Sure I said that Shikamaru, but what did flirting have anything to do with it?" The boy across from him replied, finishing his share of food and setting the rest aside for Shikamaru.

"Well you DID say to act the OPPOSITE of myself" Shikamaru stated as he slouched in his seat, obviously tired from the days events.

"Oh and you said you would clean my room for HALF A YEAR" Shikamaru added as he chewed his food, savouring each bite.

Chouji sighed…he didn't think Shikamaru would actually DO it.

"And when other people start preaching to me about it, I'll say I do know what it's like and you'd be my witness…" Shikamaru stifled a yawn as he scratched his head.

"S-So all this time…" Ino began, her bangs covering the expression on her face. Shikamaru and Chouji turned their heads facing Ino.

Ino's hands balled up into fists and she began to shake violently.

Shikamaru didn't think, he didn't NEED to think…

The lazy chunin darted out of his seat and out of the restaurant with a furious blonde tailing after him, her fists raised above her head.

"NARA SHIKAMARU YOU ARE **SO** DEAD!" Ino hollered after him as she pushed people out of her way.

- - - -

Shikamaru didn't leave for the mission the next day…

...probably because he was now in the hospital and was in a full body cast…

But another thing also happened that day that Ino missed...

Chouji had come to pay him a visit and asked the Nara a simple question.

"Soooo...what'd you think of living a 'troublesome' life?" Chouji grinned.

If Shikamaru could glare at Chouji he would have, but it would have been too troublesome to turn his head at the moment...The Akimichi boy was looking at him as to say he wasn't going to leave until his question was answered. Shikamaru sighed, muttering his famous word. He turned his gaze from the blank wall to the window and stared at the clear blue sky.

"I think..." He began...

"...I can handle it, as troublesome as it is..." Shikamaru muttered as he thought about a certain blonde kunoichi.

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**Hehe..yeah it's a silly fic! I may probably make other ShikaIno oneshots in the future! This one was sooo fun to write! Oh! And I'm sorry if the characters are OOC…but anways! I hope you enjoy! **

**R&R please!**


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